Facebook adds a video section to take on YouTube

Leon Hitchens

2 years ago

Facebook’s focusing more on video, video players, and how users access videos on Facebook. The company is toying with a dedicated video place to watch and discover videos uploaded to Facebook. A dedicated video section would let users who want to only watch videos discover all the great videos on the social platform.

The section only shows videos published by friends, pages, along with videos you’ve saved to view later , and recommended videos. Facebook is also testing a pop up window to let users explore the Facebook app and to continue to the videos. The new features are attempts to mimic features YouTube have focused their growth around, which the company wants to become a video hub much like YouTube.

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The new features are being tested on iPhone and the Web first, and Facebook said that most iPhone users around the globe can already try the new dedicated video area by “tapping a “Videos” icon at the bottom of the Facebook app.” Android support is expected in the “coming months.”

Facebook still doesn’t have the scale that YouTube has, but videos on Facebook can reach hundreds to thousands more people than any one YouTube video. Along with reach and how many eyes are on each video, Facebook still hasn’t worked on a way to server ads and have publishers collect revenue from Facebook videos. YouTube is still more appealing to publishers who want to make a living, and will continue to be until Facebook starts giving publishers more tools and ways to generate money.

Tell us in the comments below what you think about Facebook moving more into video and directly competing with YouTube.